BATTLING DEGALE'S LORD OF THE RING; OLYMPICS.

Byline: By BILL McINTYRE

BATTLING boxing underdog James Degale beat the odds in Beijing to clinch gold in the ring as he became just the second British fighter to grab Olympic glory in 50 years.

The middleweight upset Cuba's Emilio Correa 16-14 to follow in the footsteps of super-heavyweight champ Audley Harrison who won gold in Sydney in 2000.

While it was a remarkable achievement for the 22-year-old Londoner his historic victory was a sloppy affair that featured as much wrestling as it did actual boxing.

Correa and Degale spent most of the bout in each other's arms and both received two-point penalties for various violations as a desire not to let go of the other fighter replaced technique and ring craft.

Degale - who had lost two previous fights to his 22-year-old opponent - clung to an early lead by landing just enough punches to stay ahead of Correa.

But style points didn't matter to the Brit nor did the fact he was booed by the Cuban-sympathetic Chinese fans as he climbed the medal podium.

The gold medal winner said: "It was a bit scrappy. He's a strong lad.

"There were only bits in the fight where I fought the way I wanted. It certainly wasn't pretty."

Correa fell short of following the success of his father, Emilio Sr, who won gold for Cuba in 1972. He said: "He gave me lots of advice before I came to Beijing but I won a medal and that makes me very proud "I got desperate sometimes against Degale. I couldn't control my temper.

I should have won. The judges should have taken more points from him or even disqualified him."

Elsewhere in the ring, Ukrainian featherweight Vasyl Lomachenko took gold after stopping France's Khedafi Djelkhir in the first round.

The 20-year-old displayed vicious hand speed and relentless aggression, with his opponent forced to endure three standing-eight counts before the referee stopped the bout.

Lomachenko, who is renowned for his hand speed, said: "I made very precise hits and after that I didn't let things slip."

In the heavyweight division, Russian Rakhim Chakhkiev defeated Clemente Russo of Italy by four points to two in a disappointing final that saw few clean punches landed.

Thai flyweight Somjit Jongjohor won his first gold at the age of 33 after overcoming Cuba's Andris Laffita Hernandez 8-2.

Light-welterweight Felix Diaz claimed the Dominican Republic's first boxing title with a 12-4 upset over defending Olympic championManus Boonjumnong of Thailand.

CAPTION(S):

Grabbing gold: James Degale and Emilio Correa spent most of their title bout grappling but the Brit emerged with the gold medal (left)